Tassaduq Mufti, a man away from VIP culture

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 29

A young man sporting a thick beard, with a small bag, sat in the lounge of Srinagar airport on Saturday. There was nothing to suggest that this man belonged to the most powerful political family of Kashmir. He was Tassaduq Mufti, brother of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.

Busy  with himself, Tassaduq got up silently, walking toward the  security lounge to board his flight to Mumbai.  He is a cinematographer by profession. So far he has kept away from  politics, despite strong persuasion by  Mehbooba and  other members of the family.

Among others a senior  minister from PDP, a former minister of Congress, and a few others were discussing Mehbooba Mufti’s  maiden speech in the Assembly. 

Almost everyone praised her  for “brilliant choice of words” and chord she struck  all across.  There were some discreet but audible  queries, too, whether Mehbooba was in control of things, and also  if BJP was offering her the requisite support, and so on.

 However, the Chief Minister’s brother didn’t  show any signs of  attention  to the political  gossip.

At a time,  when  VIP culture has gripped the country, especially in  Jammu and Kashmir, where 

anybody who is somebody likes to throw the 

weight around, Tassaduq appeared to be  exception.

Soon after  death of Mufti Sayeed,  there was a talk of  drafting  Tassaduq in  politics. His father had also  wished that he  come back home and join politics. His mother Gulshan Bano  and sister Mehbooba Mufti also made strong pleas to him to play a role in   politics. 

Mehbooba, who also is president of Peoples Democratic Party,  took him along to  various places, where he interacted with the young and spoke of the  spirit of entrepreneurship  and  voiced concern over degradation of environment and the urgent  need to preserve it. 

It may be mentioned here that  Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah  even when they were chief ministers, would carry their hand baggage and never allow aides to assist them .

During his life time, Mufti Sayeed always displayed his qualities as a  down to earth man. 

“Tassaduq is also setting new examples in being an ordinary  man,” the former  minister observed. The PDP minister was candid enough to admit, “I didn’t know that  he was sitting here.”